Ch.285Side Story) To Become Emperor (1)

“…What is she doing now?”

Meanwhile, Jean-Claude, who had been paying close attention to the whereabouts of his half-sibling who would become another lord of the Empire after him, couldn’t help but mutter to himself in disbelief.

Isn’t it incredibly foolish?

No, if she acts so recklessly without thinking of the consequences, eventually all those actions will come back as her own loss. How could she choose such a terrible option?

‘It seems she doesn’t have a good servant around to rein in her youthful impulses.’

To say such things about a sister only one year younger than himself—if Claude or Chloe heard this, they would abandon all dignity and laugh until their sides split, but Jean-Claude was completely serious.

In his mind, despite both being illegitimate children, the difference in education between Michel and himself was enormous.

[Good, your arithmetic is sufficient. Well done, my child.]

[Thank you, Mother!]

[Next is reading comprehension. Shall we take a short break?]

[I want to do it now. I want to finish quickly and rest quickly!!]

Although Jean-Claude was born illegitimate, unlike other noble bastards, he was able to spend his childhood receiving exceptionally good treatment.

Educated by professional teachers during the day and by his mother Chloe in the evenings, Jean-Claude clearly possessed outstanding talent that anyone could see, which allowed him to quickly adapt to the duties of a lord.

From the day Chloe confirmed he would become an imperial lord, he went even further, receiving education in what is called imperial studies—management, politics, economics, and even military science. Because of this, Jean-Claude couldn’t help but look down on his half-siblings who had received less education.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.

‘…Indeed, I am more intelligent.’

Jean-Claude holds rather shallow feelings toward his half-siblings. This isn’t a problem unique to Jean-Claude. Moreover, isn’t Jean-Claude Claude’s second son?

Unlike other noble houses where illegitimate children always kept their eyes to the ground and cowered, Claude treated all his children without discrimination. Because of this, Jean-Claude came to reject the notion that he was illegitimate, and this feeling eventually led to the belief that he was superior to his half-siblings.

Having reaffirmed the reason for his superiority, Jean-Claude issues orders to his servants with a slight sense of elation.

“For now, keep watching, and bring me any information related to Michel immediately.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

This matter needs to be observed for now.

While all the imperial lords’ attention is focused on Michel due to the sudden plundering of Pomeralle, I must do what I couldn’t do before.

[Jean-Claude, now I’ll give you your final lesson.]

[What is… this?]

[It’s a book containing personal information about the imperial lords. How do you think I obtained this?]

[Perhaps… you got it from the Intelligence Office?]

[No, I investigated and created this myself. The final lesson is how to freely manipulate others as if they were your own limbs.]

‘…Now is the opportunity.’

Although Jean-Claude didn’t inherit all of the intelligence network that Chloe had painstakingly built, he was able to succeed quite a few fragments of it.

And those fragments provided enormous help in developing his own intelligence network.

For the past year, Jean-Claude, who had received quite hostile attention from neighboring lords for being Claude’s child, focused on internal affairs and building his own power base. After a year, those efforts finally bore fruit with the creation of his own intelligence group.

It was merely a poor-quality imitation of what his mother Chloe had created, but even this much could be called an achievement.

“And… while the imperial lords’ attention is on Michel, proceed with planting spies among them.”

“Yes, Your Highness. May I leave now?”

“Yes, good work.”

Though it may only amount to planting a few spies for now, Jean-Claude firmly believes that eventually he will be able to usurp territorial rights or easily eliminate dangerous individuals.

After all, Jean-Claude had witnessed every brilliant harvest that Chloe had cultivated.

There were too many achievements Chloe had accomplished to dismiss them as useless or overrated trivial skills, and they firmly impressed one fact in Jean-Claude’s mind:

With sufficient intelligence, nothing is impossible.

[Child, you should become the Emperor of the Holy Empire.]

“…She really had grand dreams.”

After the servant left and he was alone in his office, Jean-Claude leaned back in his chair almost lying down and stared at the ceiling, recalling the time he left Dijon.

Emperor of the Holy Empire? Is that an easy thing to say?

Though it barely maintains its existence thanks to the capable minister Lorenzo, the current Holy Empire has lost its former glory and is merely a massive country with an excessive number of lords. Yet paradoxically, this makes becoming Emperor extremely difficult.

From the massive sectarian conflicts that split this enormous country in two, to the nobles’ political attitudes of self-preservation by checking other powerful forces—none of it is easy.

Moreover, isn’t Jean-Claude merely a newcomer to the Empire? And one backed by Lothringen, the greatest power of this era?

‘If I put myself in their shoes… ugh, it gives me chills.’

What if I become Emperor of the Holy Empire? I can assert that there would be no greater nightmare for the nobles of the Holy Empire.

What noble would quietly watch as a powerful monarch sits above their head? They would desperately try to block it by any means necessary.

Add to that heresy and foreign influence? Ugh, it’s terrifying just to imagine. Even if I barely ascended to the throne, it’s clear the nobles would refuse to obey and go berserk.

‘…But that’s what makes it more valuable.’

However, wouldn’t the sense of achievement and honor be all the greater after overcoming all those adversities, seizing the throne, and restoring imperial authority?

I can certainly do it.

It might take decades—it’s hard to even guess how long—but it’s definitely possible. Even after ascending to the throne, I could certainly subdue the nobles by utilizing mother’s legacy.

Why?

Because I am my mother’s child.

Everything I’ve learned from mother is finally starting to make sense. Not a single thing is useless in my path to becoming Emperor.

…Mother, were you really that resentful about me not being able to succeed father?

Well then… as a son, true filial piety would be to resolve mother’s resentment.

……….

“Listen here, Duke Steier! Do you intend to leave your half-sister Michel to run wild like this?!”

However, Jean-Claude’s expectations are slightly off the mark.

It was good that Michel had caused a commotion and stolen the attention of most nobles, but some nobles approached Jean-Claude, Michel’s half-brother, trying to resolve this issue.

And among them was Pomeralle, who had suffered the greatest damage from this incident.

“Duke Pomeralle, please calm down first.”

“How can I be calm?! How can she kidnap territory residents when she’s not even a heretical barbarian?!”

Duke Pomeralle was furious to the core and was venting his anger on Jean-Claude.

Strictly speaking, this was an act committed independently by Michel, a proper adult, so he shouldn’t be confronting Jean-Claude, who was completely uninvolved. If he wanted a third party’s intervention, he should have gone directly to Dijon to meet Claude rather than just a half-brother, but Duke Pomeralle didn’t do that.

It was too burdensome to meet Michel with her powerful military force, and Claude was widely known as a mad emperor, so he avoided meeting him for fear of potential backlash.

In other words, Duke Pomeralle saw Jean-Claude, who had been quiet for the past year, as someone open to dialogue in kind terms, or as an easy target in less kind terms, which led to the current situation.

“…While I am extremely opposed to disturbing the peace, there is nothing I can do.”

“Why not?”

“Would the Margrave of Preussen listen to me? How exactly do you perceive the relationship between us?”

“That is…”

But Jean-Claude pretends not to know this despite understanding it well.

Despite it being an extremely disrespectful act that offends his pride, Jean-Claude chose to keep this matter in his heart and take revenge slowly later, rather than getting angry and rebuking the duke immediately.

The former would be just a momentary outburst, but the latter could inflict an enormous amount of damage. Revenge should never be carried out on a momentary impulse.

“I simply cannot fathom why you’ve come to me in the first place. Since your territories are adjacent, couldn’t you go directly to the Margrave of Preussen and negotiate?”

“How can one have any dialogue with a madwoman who suddenly raids territories and kidnaps residents?”

“Kuk, a madwoman—there couldn’t be a more fitting description for the current situation. Well… I’ll send a letter asking her to stop, so please return now.”

“…Very well, I’m counting on you.”

“Then take care on your way back.”

Although Jean-Claude had laughed openly in his face, it was contextually directed at Michel, and since the duke had received the answer he wanted, he nodded with an uneasy feeling.

Of course, Duke Pomeralle’s feeling was accurate, but Jean-Claude didn’t bother to point it out. He simply smiled while making promises and statements he had no intention of keeping.